On Tuesday, as he made “his re-election bid official”
by opening his campaign account and turning-in paperwork to seek a
second term in office, Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) hinted that he no longer supported
expanding the state’s Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act to
cover low-income Floridians. The long-time reform critic shocked the
political world in February when he endorsed the effort, only to see the measure stall and eventually fail in the state House.
During a press availability
today, Scott pointedly dodged a question about whether he would pursue
federal funding for Medicaid expansion next month and instead
highlighted the law’s rocky rollout:

You know the concern Floridians have today about what the federal
government has done with the president’s health care law is 300,000
families or individuals been told they’re gonna lose their insurance at
the end of the month. That’s the biggest issue we’re dealing
with right now. On top of the fact you see the plans that have been
proposed, they have high deductibles, so I’m concerned about cost,
quality and access to health care, that’s our biggest problem right now.

Expanding Medicaid to 133 percent of the federal poverty line would
in fact improve access for the state’s neediest residents. Florida is
home to the country’s second-highest uninsured rate and the expected $51 billion in federal funding
could have covered approximately 850,000 low-income Floridians in the
next 10 years. But since the House rejected the plan, hundreds of
thousands of state residents find themselves in the so-called Medicaid coverage gap
— earning too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to qualify
for premium tax credits available through the law’s insurance
marketplaces — and will likely remain uninsured.
In February, Scott argued
that his decision to expand Florida’s program for three years was
inspired by “my Mom’s struggles raising five kids with very little
money.” “No mother, or father, should despair over whether or not they
can afford – or access – the healthcare their child needs,” he said.
“While the federal government is committed to paying 100 percent of the
cost of new people in Medicaid, I cannot, in good conscience, deny the
uninsured access to care.”
The federal government will pick up nearly all of the costs of
Medicaid expansion (100 percent for the first three years, phasing down
to 90 percent in 2020 and all subsequent years), paying nearly 93
percent the cost over the next nine years, according to the
Congressional Budget Office. Since Medicaid is financed through general
tax revenue, Floridians will sill pay billions into the system without reaping the financial benefits of decreasing the ranks of the uninsured.